Have I got a Bug Off Garlic story for you! I just got home from the Australian Shepherd Club of America 2014 National Specialty. My two Aussies and I compete in Obedience and Rally; I've used Springtime products for the last 7 years or so with my 11 year old male, Spooky, and started my 5 year old female, Magic, as soon as she came home.

This year's Nationals presented some challenging conditions for folks competing in Obedience and Rally. Our rings were under cover, but the sides were open and the flooring in our building was concrete covered with dirt that had previously been used in livestock stalls with ALL the usual smells and byproducts of stabling animals. But the biggest distraction for most dogs was the FLIES. They were EVERYWHERE - landing on the equipment, buzzing around dogs as they worked, and being a horrible nuisance that caused many normally excellent performing dogs to fail exercises they usually aced under other conditions.

In talking to other handlers after the first couple of pre-trials, I noticed my dogs were not being pestered by all those flies. Flies just plain avoided us - they buzzed around me, but my dogs never had one land on their faces, ears, or anywhere. Other handlers tried using all sorts of fly and bug sprays (which seriously interfered with the utility dogs that had to use their noses for the scent discrimination exercises) but they gave no perceptible relief from the fly attacks. It dawned on me why my dogs weren't bothered by the flies at all - they have been eating the Bug Off Garlic Granules for years as a deterrent to the ticks we always seem to find on our walks along the Chattahoochee River National Park. I'd never dreamed Bug Off Garlic Granules would mean the difference between earning placements in our sports, versus non-qualifying scores due to obnoxious flies bothering dogs as they tried to do their jobs. Thank you, Bug Off Garlic Granules!

Also, with the intense amount of jumping in the top levels of Utility Obedience, Spooky developed back muscle cramps when he was around 7 years old. These reminded my holistic vet of the cramps he'd seen race and cutting horses get. He suggested 325 mg dose of DMG based on Spooky's age and weight, initially formulating a tablet supplement. The tablets worked GREAT, but were really expensive. I noticed the DMG 5,600 for horses in the Springtime catalog, and brought it to his attention - and he suggested giving it a try. One container of DMG for horses has lasted me for more than two years. I believe I have seen DMG tablets advertised on various web sites - but nothing compares to the economics of that whopper horse-sized container in your catalog!